A 525–556-GHz Radiating Source With a Dielectric Lens Antenna in 28-nm CMOS

This paper presents the design, implementation, and measurement of a 0.53-THz radiating source in a 28-nm bulk CMOS technology. An oscillator-tripler topology is employed to effectively generate and extract the third harmonic at 0.53 THz within a fully symmetrical layout. A dielectric lens is designed, fabricated, and mounted on top of the chip to enhance the antenna gain. During the design of the radiating source, a lumped model representing the transistor interconnect parasitics including the parasitic capacitances, resistances, and inductances is developed using a simulation-based modeling method. The accuracy of the developed model is validated by comparing the simulation and measurement of the 0.53-THz radiating source. The measured equivalent isotropically radiated power of the radiating source is -7.4 dBm at 527.6 GHz under 0.9-V supply voltage. According to the measured antenna directivity of 14.6 dBi, the radiated power and dc-to-THz efficiency of the radiating source are calculated as -22 dBm and 0.332%, respectively. By adjusting the supply voltage, the output frequency can be tuned from 524.7 to 555.8 GHz, indicating a 5.9% frequency tuning range.